Would I be my giant sooky self if I didn’t make an ambitious list of final things to do before I leave Timor-Leste?

I made a similar list at the end of the the year-ish I spent living in Melbourne — a long, thorough, and consulted list, peppered with suggestions from friends who loved and lived that city. You can read it here.

As we roll into March and my 10 April return to Australia looms close and real, I’ve set myself the task of writing a Timor-Leste to-do list: not to be too prescriptive or panicked about my last few weeks here, but to ensure I’m making the most of the precious time I still have here; to focus my vagrant, flighty attention on the present and to live, fully, here, for five more weeks — five more full, wonderful, intentional weeks.

Here’s what I’m setting myself to.

My Timor-Leste bucket list

1. Drink the expensive $18 wine from Centro
2. Buy bakso, or whatever it is, from the maun with the honking  cart
3. Visit Ossu
4. Buy hot bread at night from Padaria Brasão
5. Ferment cabbage
6. Make pickles
7. Go to Covalima
8. Dive the Pinnacle again
9. One last Back Beach snorkle
10. Hike to Dare
11. One last Beachside brunch
12. Actually buy one of those wooden crocodile toys from the Beachside boys
13. LetefooooohooooOOooOo
14. Return to Oecusse by road
15. Drink tap water at Palm Springs
16. Buy green pancake snecks from the Colmera bakery
17. Drink coffee in Railaco
18. Clear out my blog post drafts
19. Final Jesus, final Horta Loop
20. Lunch wine at Hotel Timor
21. Drink a nice cocktail in a nice dress at sundown at Hotel Timor
22. Read Beloved Land again
23. Make playdough with the neighbours’ kids
24. Buy plants from Manleuana Market
25. Get a tais dress made
26. Prepare a Tetun goodbye speech
27. Battle Timor bureaucracy to get a police clearance
28. Panic-shop for tais at Things + Stories
29. Cry in the airport Hungry Jack’s before my flight home.

Suggestions welcome! If you live in Timor-Leste, love this country, or feel you know better than I do what I like doing here from reading this blog, let me know what I should do before I head off. (Message me on Instagram or Twitter if that’s easy; or send me an email).